“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph,
and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

When they had seen him,
they spread the word concerning
what had been told them about this child…”
Luke 2:15-17 (NIV)

In most Christian denominations there is a clear distinction between the “clergy” and the “laity”. However, as we study the Scripture we see that all kinds of people preached and taught the Gospel who were not of a special class of church members.

From the lowly shepherds preaching about Jesus at His birth to the woman who went to the empty tomb and returned to Jerusalem and told about the resurrection of Christ, we read stories of ordinary followers of Jesus proclaiming the truth about Him.

We should never think that the only ones who can tell the old old story of Jesus and His love are trained “clergy”. In fact what all Christians are charged with is the responsibility to be witnesses to the Saviour.

A witness does not need to have special training to testify nor do witnesses require lessons in public speaking. All the qualification a witness needs is to remember a situation they experienced. A witness is qualified to testify simply on the basis of being at an event and seeing or hearing something happen.

All the lowly shepherds did was relate the message they had received from the angel and how they verified the angel’s story by going and finding the child. This is all the expertise the shepherds had.

As Christians we need to follow the example of the shepherds and simply tell others what we know about the work of the Lord in our lives. We do not need to be experts in the art of persuasion. It is the work of God to produce acceptance of our testimony in the hearts of our listeners.

You may be a lay preacher today as you tell all you know about how the Lord has come into your life and what you have learned from the Bible about Him. Go and witness about Jesus today and you will find the Holy Spirit blessing your testimony to the good of others. The Christmas message is something to be shared not hoarded.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree
that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
(This was the first census that took place
while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
And everyone went to their own town to register.
Luke 2:1-3 (NIV)

It was prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judea (Micah 5:2). However, Joseph—the legal father of Jesus—and Mary His mother, were living in Nazareth near the time of Jesus’ birth.

In order for God’s prophecy to be fulfilled, the Lord put it into the heart of Caesar Augustus to take a census of his kingdom at just the right time. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God directs the actions of even ruling kings (Proverbs 21:1).  Hence we believe that nothing is left to “chance”.

The Bible teaches that nothing is left to blind irrational forces. Life events are all under the authority of a sovereign God Who rules everything according to His own will (Ephesians 1:11).

Remarkable comfort is to be found in realizing how God is involved in every detail of our lives and that nothing happens without His involvement.

Certainly the Roman ruler at the time of Jesus’ birth acted freely as far as he knew. However God not only chose who would be our Lord’s earthly parents, He organized the detail to get them to the very place where His Son would be born.

What a blessed truth that nothing takes the Lord by surprise. Even the kings of the earth do His sovereign will. When some apparent disaster comes our way, we may be certain it passed before the eye of our God and He caused it to happen.

Certainly it was most inconvenient for Joseph and Mary to travel by foot all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem when Mary was so close to delivering her child. But they knew their suffering was to fulfil the promise of God concerning the location of Jesus’ birth.

They submitted to their difficulties in that journey knowing God was in charge and that nothing happened by “chance”. May we have a similar attitude to our sorrows in life.

and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger,
because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:7 (NIV)

The first coming of Jesus is incredibly different from what it will be like when He comes the second time. When our Lord came the first time it was a very private advent and rare are the historical references to our Lord by secular historians. Only the four Gospels give detail concerning Him.

When our Lord comes the second time “every eye shall see Him”. Only a few thousand people came near Jesus at His first coming. All humanity from every generation shall be assembled before Him when He returns.

His first coming was to act as the “Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world”. When He comes again He will be the Judge of sin and of all who have chosen to remain in their sins.

When our Lord first appeared, only an angel made the announcement to some lowly shepherds. When He returns, all the host of heavenly angels shall sing and shout and trumpets will be blown to make the announcement.

When our Lord came, creation continued to labour under the curse of Genesis 3. When He returns, creation shall be redeemed, the curse lifted, and all that was lost in the first Adam shall be reinstated (Romans 5).

Were it not for this amazing transformation at the second coming, Christians would be of all people the most miserable. Our great longing and desire is to be rid of this sinful nature and have the complete freedom of God’s children as described in Romans 8:18-23.

Pray for patience as you suffer in this life Christian. You know that all the pain, suffering, and sorrow will soon be removed when Jesus returns.

Celebrate the truth that Jesus came the first time and fulfilled all the promises of that advent. Because He was faithful to those promises, we may trust Him for all the promises surrounding His second Advent. The One Who has called us is trustworthy and shall do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).